I'm sure everyone on this board knows that Amtrak got a new CEO who came straight out of Delta Airlines. And he is trying to operate it as an airline. There is a lot going on behind the scenes, but it will take a long time in the courts if Amtrak ever does once again allow private cars (Some are still allowed) and excursion trains that operated on their self insurance. But for now, steam is dead. Long live steam!

Boy am I glad I came down to St. Paul Union Depot to visit the 261 while you were tending her fire, Mark. How little I could have guessed that would be the last time I would see the 261 under steam for the near future. I am not going to Train Days at S.P.U.D. this year out of protest against Richard Anderson, Amtrak's inept C.E.O. who needs to be fired right away and a railroader put in his place.

I wouldn't go after R. Anderson. He's just doing the job he was hired to do. That said, I wish he would find a way to make things work when a train is running under Amtrak auspices, not costing them any money and actually creating a slight profit. Case in tpoint - Duluth, where we use no Amtrak equipment but do pay for two Amtrak employees plus a fee that gave them a profit. I think there will be a lot of negotiating during the next few months and we might still be able to operate under Amtrak charter for occasional trips. Meanwhile, we can still operate on the TC&W and I hope we do this fall. And I do believe that we don't do anything with Amtrak for the kiddy show at SPUD in early December, so we should be there once again this year. I'm hoping.

As for Richard Anderson? Sorry, but the truth is his fingerprints are on the knife in so many people's backs thanks to his myopic airline mentality.On a side note, I will be going to the St. Paul Union Depot after all, because a friend of mine will be there. Still does not mean I like Anderson, but friendship is friendship, and, yes, National Train Day is still National Train Day.

What I mean is that to demean Richard Anderson will not help at all. Rather, it would in all likelihood make things much worse. There are a lot of things going on right this moment from many sources who are trying to straighten this mess out. Amtrak itself is under pressure and so are senators and representatives from all over the country as they get flooded with mail with regards to this catastrophe. I remain hopeful that some sort of new deal will come out of this and all will be well once again. Mark D.

Well, things are starting to roll. No telling what the outcome will be, but our illustrious Minnesota Congress woman Amy Klobuchar, along with member of Congress Richard M. Nolan, has written a letter to Richard Anderson strongly asking him to reconsider what he has done with the private operations that depend upon Amtrak.

And a day later a more strongly worded letter was sent to both Richard Anderson AND Anthony R. Corscia, who happens to be the chairman of the board of Amtrak. Signed by eight members of Congress - David Young, Ron Kind, Tom Cole, Drew Ferguson, Sanford Bishop, Scott Tipton, David Price and Mike Quigley.

Amtrak could just come back with a screw you response, or they might reconsider and come up with a compromise that neither Amtrak nor the excursion operators like.